Boat and paddle wheel steering system



April 10, 1956 E. F. PEPPARD 2,741,210

BOAT AND PADDLE WHEEL STEERING SYSTEM Filed March 2, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. I

* w IQ INVENTOR.

EDWIN F. PEPPARD BY ug wt ATTORNEY April 1956 E. F. PEPPARD 2,741,210

BOAT AND PADDLE WHEEL STEERING SYSTEM Filed March 2, 1953 2 SheetsSheet 2 INVENTOR.

EDWIN F. P EPPARD ATTORNEY United States Patent A 2,741,210 BOAT PADDLE' STEERING- svs'riaM Edwin F. Peppard, Gracevilie, Fla. Application March 2, 1953;, Serial No. 339,551 14 Claims. (Cl. 11s--so This invention relates to watercraft and more particularly to a shallow draft paddle wheel boat which is especially adapted to be used as a towboat or tugboat.

In a boat or ship for use extensively in rivers, lakes and inland Waterways, particular attention must" be paid to the design of a craft which has few parts protmding from the underwater hull, since the depth of the water in inland bodies varies a great deal and there is likelihood that any large propeller or rudder protruding beneath the hull would be damaged by striking the bottom. In the past, steamboats having paddle wheels have been used on these inland bodies of water because there is very little danger of damaging the propelling paddle wheel. Because of the low speed characteristics of a propelling paddle wheel, bulky low speed reciprocating machinery has been used to provide the necessary power to drive these paddle wheels.

Due to the lack of maneuverability of prior art paddle wheel ships, and with the advent of high speed internal combustion engines, the trend in-the arthas been toward multi-screw propeller driven ships which may utilize these compact power units and also have the added advantage of being more easily maneuverable. With the advantages mentioned above, a propeller driven ship has the disadvantage of usually having the propulsion propellers eirtending' beneath the hull of the ship where they can be damaged. Further, these propellers provide a reasonably small displacement area and, hence, they must drive a small columnof water at a reasonably high speed with resulting lowered efficiency.

' Briefly, my invention comprises a paddle wheel boat having propelling means such as propelling wheels which may be supported at the forward and after ends of the hull, each propelling wheel is independently rotated about its transverse axis, which axis may be independently pivoted about its vertical axis, and also may be raised or lowered with respect to the hull. The mechanism for raising and lowering the transverse axis functions to determine the depth of stroke of the paddle blades and also acts as a counterbalance member by means of which the paddle wheel will automatically be raised if one of its blades strikes an object on the bottom of the body of water, then automatically lowered after the paddle wheel has passed over the object.

Accordingly, it is an object of my invention to provide a paddle wheel type boat or ship which utilizes small internal combustion engines for power and which also has high maneuverability characteristics,

Another object of my invention is to provide propulsion means which is especially adapted to provide maximum power, maximum efficiency, and maximum maneuverability for a boat which is adapted to operate in shallow waters.

Another object of my invention is to provide a towboat having paddle'wheels which may separately be rotated in a 360? horizontal arc' to provide propulsion in any desirable dir'ectio'if.

Another object of my invention is to provide a tow- 2,7 4 l ,2 10 Patented Apr. 10, 1956 boat having the above characteristics and which is provided with propulsion machineryrso arranged that the center of gravity is at the center of the ship.

Another object of my invention is to provide a towboat having paddle wheels forward and aft which may be raised or lowered into the water so as to utilize the optimum ratio of displacement area to effective horsepower.

Another object of my invention is to provide a' paddle wheel type boatz o'r. ship wherein the paddle wheels are hydraulically balanced to ride up and away from obstructions.

Other and further objects and advantages of my invention. will become apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like characters of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

Fig. l is a side elevation of a ship constructed in ac cordance with my invention.

Fig. 2.is an enlarged top view taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4 Of 2'.

Fig. 5 is a partially broken side elevation of a detail.

Fig. 6 is a schematic view of a detail showing the hydraulic accumulator connected to the hydraulic cylinder.

Referring now to the embodiment chosen for purpose of illustration, numeral 10 denotes the hull of a ship constructed in accordance with my invention and having superstructure 11 and wheel house 12. It should be noted that wheelhouse 12 is centrally located with respect to hull 19 so that the pilot may have fullvision in' all directions as well as full observation of the operation of the paddles.

Projecting both from the forward and after ends of hull it are frame structures 13 and 14 which in turn respectively support propelling wheels 15 and i. The construction of each frame structure and each propelling wheel is identical, the structure of the after propelling wheel being shown in more detail in Figs. 2, 3 and 4.

in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, frame structure 14 is illustrated as comprising an upper rectangular frame 17 and a lower rectangular frame 18 which are rigidly connected together by struts 19 extending vertically between the corners of the respective frames. Now it can be seen that both frame structure 13 and frame structure 14 comprise a box-shaped member projecting in front of and behind hull 10.

At each corner of lower frame 18, triangular-shaped reinforcing gussets 26 support hydraulic cylinders 21, the function of which will be described in more detail hereinafter. Adjacent each of the vertical struts w and within the frame structure, are vertical stabilizing bars 22 which are rigidly connected to the corners of upper and lower frames 17 and 18 and serve to transmit the thrust from the propelling wheel 16 to frame structure 14. The assembly for horizontal rotation and lifting or lowering of propelling wheel 16 comprises an annular channel member 23 which is positioned within the frame structure and connected to bars 22 by arms 24 which are slidably positioned thereon so that member 23 may be moved up and down within the frame structure 14. In order to support member 23 and to provide for vertical movement and positioning thereof, a piston 25 is located within each of cylinders 21 and connected to arms 24 through piston shafts 26. A conventional hydraulic accumulator system 26' provides hydraulic fluidfor cylinders 21 at substantially constant pressure, so that propelling wheel I6 may be positioned horizontally or either axis, means within said paddle wheel for rotating said paddle wheel about a transverse axis to propel said boat, means for rotating said paddle wheel about an upright axis to steer said boat, and hydraulic accumulator means connected to said boat and supporting said paddle wheel on said boat and counterbalancing the weight of said paddle wheel, said paddle wheel being mounted for free upward movement so as to ride up and over obstructions in its path.

4. In a shallow draft paddle wheel boat, a paddle wheel for propelling said boat, said paddle wheel being mounted for rotation about both a transverse axis and an upright axis, means within said paddle wheel for rotating said paddle wheel about a transverse axis to propel said boat, means for rotating said paddle wheel about an upright axis to steer said boat, counterbalancing means supporting said paddle wheel on said boat and counterbalancing the weight of said paddle wheel, and lifting means connected to said boat selectively operable to raise and lower said paddle wheel with respect to the waterline on said boat.

5. In a shallow draft paddle wheel boat, a paddle wheel at each end of said boat, at least one said paddle wheel being mounted for rotation about both a transverse axis and an upright axis, means for rotating each said paddle wheel about a transverse axis to propel said boat, means for rotating at least one said paddle wheel about an upright axis to steer said boat, and counterbalancing means on said boat supporting at least one said paddle wheel on said boat and counterbalancing the weight thereof.

6. In a shallow draft paddle wheel boat, a paddle wheel at each end of said boat, at least one said paddle wheel being mounted for rotation about both a transverse axis and an upright axis, means for rotating each said paddle wheel about a transverse axis to propel said boat, means for rotating at least one said paddle wheel about an upright axis to steer said boat, counterbalancing means on said boat supporting at least one said paddle wheel on said boat and counterbalancing the weight thereof, and lifting means selectively operable to raise and lower at least one said paddle wheel with respect to the waterline on said boat.

7. In a shallow draft paddle wheel boat, a paddle wheel at each end of said boat, at least one said paddle wheel being mounted for rotation about both a transverse axis and an upright axis, means for rotating each said paddle wheel about a transverse axis to propel said boat, means for rotating at least one said paddle wheel about an upright axis to steer said boat, counterbalancing means on said boat supporting each said paddle wheel on said boat and counterbalancing the Weight of each said paddle wheel, and lifting means selectively operable to raise and lower each said paddle wheel with respect to the waterline on said boat.

8. In a shallow draft paddle wheel boat, a paddle wheel at each end of said boat, each said paddle wheel being mounted for independent rotation about both a transverse axis and an upright axis, means for rotating each said paddle wheel about a transverse axis to propel said boat, means for rotating each said paddle wheel 6 about an upright axis to steer said boat, counterbalancing means on said boat supporting each said paddle wheel on said boat and counterbalancing the weight of each said paddle wheel, and lifting means selectively operable to raise and lower each said paddle wheel with respect to the waterline on said boat.

9. In a shallow draft paddle wheel boat, a rectangular frame connected to said boat, hydraulic counterbalance means mounted at the corners of said frame, an annular member mounted on said hydraulic counterbalance means to be raised and lowered by the same, a paddle Wheel mounted in said member for rotation about its axis and for rotation within said member about an upright axis, means connected to said member for rotating said paddle wheel about said upright axis to steer said boat, and means within said paddle wheel for rotating the same about its axis.

10. In a shallow draft paddle wheel boat, a frame connected to said boat, hydraulic counterbalance means mounted to said frame, an annular member mounted on said hydraulic counterbalance means to be raised and lowered by the same, a paddle wheel mounted in said member for rotation about its axis and for rotation within said member about an upright axis, means connected to said member for rotating said paddle wheel about said upright axis to steer said boat, and means within said paddle wheel for rotating the same about its axis.

11. The structure as claimed in claim 10 wherein said means for rotating said paddle wheel includes an engine axially within said paddle wheel, a rack on said paddle wheel and pinion means engaging said rack and driven from said motor for rotating said paddle wheel.

12. The structure as claimed in claim 10 wherein said hydraulic counterbalance means includes a hydraulic accumulator supplying substantially constant pressure, hydraulic cylinders positioned on said frame, and hydraulic pistons within said cylinders and connected to said annular member.

13. The structure as claimed in claim 10 wherein said annular member includes an annular channel member and said means for rotating said paddle wheel about an upright axis includes horizontal rollers riding in said annular channel member and other rollers supporting said paddle wheel within said annular channel member.

14. In a shallow draft paddle wheel boat, a paddle wheel having a hollow axis, an engine room disposed in said hollow axis, means within said engine room for rotating said paddle wheel about its axis, an annular member surrounding said paddle wheel and connected to said boat, said engine room being suspended from said annular member, means connected to said engine room for rotating said engine room and said paddle about an upright axis within said annular member to steer said boat, and support means projecting from said annular member for connecting said annular member to said boat.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 149,09l Blake Mar. 31, 1874 226,542 Olsen Apr. 13, 1880 440,234 Schaffers Nov. 11, 1890 1,100,238 Hensley June 16, 1914 1,820,307 Heckman Aug. 25, 1931 FOREIGN PATENTS 4,025 Great Britain Aug. 20, 1883 138,178 Switzerland May 1, 1930 

